With You Forever More
by NightRaven13
Summary: /ON HIATUS/ Roxas finds himself in the middle of some strange events on board the S.S Eventide. Shadows roaming dark halls, nightmarish visions of a life never lived, and what does the resident ghost have to do with it all? Summer just got interesting…
1. The Offer

_**Greetings to everyone!**_

_**Hi! My name is NightRaven13 for those of you who've never read any of my other stories… This is my first official attempt at writing a story for the Kingdom Hearts fandom so please be nice! I usually concentrate more in the Yu-Gi-Oh universe when it comes to my fanfics, so I apologize in advance if you are not a particular fan of the series. Anyway, I hope all of you give this story a chance and read to your heart's content! To those who have been anticipating a new chapter for Shinning Light from a Distant Past, I apologize as of now. I'm sorry no new chapters have been written up for that one, but I promise to get one out soon! For now, enjoy this newest little piece!**_

_**Please do read and review!**_

_**Love,**_

_**-NightRaven13**_

_**DISCLAIMER: (Insert witty remark here) I don't own kingdom Hearts or any of the characters associated with the story! All I own is my Roxas plushy…**_

* * *

The night welcomed him with its soft symphony of noises.

Soft sounds could be heard in the distance, the sounds of ocean waves increasing in strength every second or so. The wind whipped fiercely around him, bringing forth the smell the ocean emitted in the breeze. As the wind carried the scent along, a soft chill permeated the air as well as his body.

Something was not right.

He moved forward in the darkness, guided only by the soft glow of the moon than hung high above the sky. He walked down what seemed a narrow walkway, his feet making light noises against the wood with each step.

He was not meant to be here.

He walked on anyway, despite the feeling of foreboding he felt in his gut. Something told him that he was not meant to be in his present location, but other senses told him otherwise. The feeling of danger and doom was in the air, and it urged him forward all the more.

A light fog began to roll in as he walked on down the wooden path, obscuring the soft glow the moon emitted. He continued on anyway, only stopping when a distressing sound caught his attention.

Somewhere, not too far ahead away, a scream interrupted the darkness.

Without a seconds hesitation, he shifted off into a dead run down the walkway and into the darkness ahead of him, stopping only once he reached the end of the path.

"Stay away…"

He turned around, noticing a figure standing across from him not to far away.

"What have you done?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

"You should've stayed away…kept to what was expected of you…"

He clenched his fists, anger slightly clouding his senses.

"What have you done!" he yelled. "Show yourself you bloody coward!"

Out of the shadows the figure stepped forward, clearly not alone. Against his left arm he held a pale and frightened captive, and with his right a gun glinted lightly against the pale light.

"No! Let her go!"

The figure laughed, pulling the captive ever closer to him. He shifted the gun higher and against the temple of the frightened victim.

"Or else what? I clearly have all the cards dealt in my favor…why deal out now?"

The victim blinked, clearly trying to fight back the rush of tears that had welled up in her eyes. A slight plea could be seen conjured up in her features, a silent scream for help directed at him.

"I'll ask you again, let her go!"

A smile broke against the figure's face, laughter dancing around his eyes.

"Never…"

He shifted the gun, then lightly pulled against the trigger.

"No!"

He darted forward, the victim pulling against her captor at the same moment and breaking away. She ran towards him at the last minute and collided into his embrace before the horrid sound echoed around him.

He looked down, the girl still caught in his embrace and slowly pulling him down with her. They slid to the floor, her grasp never weakening from his own.

"NO!"

He held her close, a slight pool of blood quickly forming beneath her and against his hands. She pulled forward until her head dropped against his shoulder, a final labored sentence escaping her lips.

"I…forgive you…"

A shadow loomed above him, dark and foreboding. He turned his attention towards the silhouette, only to be met with the glinting gun.

"I warned you once, now death to you both!"

He held the girl tightly in his arms as the shot echoed around him, followed closely by the sound of a scream.

A name rang along with the scream, a name so distantly forgotten.

Then nothing but darkness followed.

* * *

"Roxas…"

The darkness held him close, his arms trying their best to break free from its embrace.

"Roxas…WAKE UP MAN!"

He pulled away, followed closely by the feeling of falling, then crashed heavily against the floor. Arms grabbed hold of his shoulders and shook him violently about.

"Wake up man! You were yelling in your freggin' sleep again! I though you stopped doing that ages ago!"

Roxas dragged his lead heavy eyes open, only to be greeted by the sight of flame red hair and contrasting emerald green eyes. The eyes held a look of worry in them, a look not too unfamiliar to Roxas' own clear blue ones.

He groaned, then croaked out his first sentence of the day.

"Axel? How the hell did you get in my house?"

Axel smiled, then got up and sat on Roxas' now empty bed.

"You know a 'Good Morning' would've been nice."

Roxas rubbed the bruise that was quickly forming against his head, then shot a look at Axel.

"Answer the question."

He smirked, then held up a silver key to his line of vision.

"You know, you really got to stop hiding these under the welcome mat…no one does that anymore unless they're planning to get robbed."

Roxas couldn't help but glare, he really was not feeling that sort of patronizing comment so early in the morning. Rather than argue the point, however, he instead opted to get up and pick up his bed sheets along with him. Axel meanwhile could not help but stare at him.

Roxas stopped, then turned and glared at his friend on the bed.

"What?"

"Nothing…"

"Yeah right…there must be something…you didn't break into my house just to wake me up did you?"

"Yes and no…I've been trying to call you all morning…I even yelled at you through your bedroom window," Axel sat back, clearly making himself comfortable with his surroundings. "But when no one answered I decided to let myself in and check on you…then I find you flailing around your bed yelling bloody murder at the top of your freggin' lungs!"

Roxas looked away, his face reddening at the cheeks.

"A huh…so why the urgency then?"

Axel smirked, clearly getting the hint.

"No reason, just wanted to check up on you."

"Right…what for?"

Axel rolled his eyes, clearly not amused with Roxas' refusal to bring the topic up on his own.

"Come on man…don't play stupid with me. Everyone knows what happened already…get over it."

Roxas walked over to his closet and grabbed the nearest pair of clean clothes he could find, busying himself as best he could to avoid the topic in question. Axel, on the other hand, was not one to back down so easily.

"Dude…it wasn't that bad…it happens to everybody…"

Roxas turned, a deathly glare aimed at Axel.

"Yeah…then I suppose there's a shitload of guys out there who've gotten screwed over by their best friends too huh?"

Axel shrugged. "Yeah…maybe"

Roxas fumed, "Well when you find them, do me a favor and point them out to me will you?"

"Will do…until then, just forget about the girl and get a life! You been mopping around your apartment for two weeks already…people are starting to come up to me on the street and asking if you're dead or something…it's weird."

Roxas threw his sheets back onto the bed. "Yeah, well maybe I am."

Axel couldn't help but roll his eyes again, "Dude…quit the emo act and grow up! So the girl you've liked since middle school likes your best friend instead…so what? It ain't anything new."

"Yeah…but how many like the girl back?"

Axel shrugged, "Guess bros before hoes don't mean shit to your friend Blondie huh?"

Roxas glared, partially glad that Axel was doing him the favor by not mentioning Hayner's name out loud for once, but still irked at the fact that the topic was brought up. Hayner's name had not been spoken aloud since the last day of class before summer vacation, instead replaced with much more obscene words over the course of the last two following weeks. The change suited Roxas just fine, on account that Hayner was as good as dead in Roxas' eyes anyway.

As far as he was concern, his friendship with Hayner died the minute Olette came into the picture.

"Come on man! Lighten up…you make the manic depressives look like a ray of sunshine next to you!"

Roxas merely grabbed his pillow and hurled into Axels' face as a response. He, of course, successfully dodged it away at the last minute.

"Ok…so maybe not…"

"I'm fine Axel…now if you excuse me…I haven't had any breakfast yet and I'd like to get that done before I die of starvation."

Axel shrugged and proceeded to get up, knowing full well how cranky Roxas could get without his daily food intake.

"Fine fine…just one more thing I wanted to ask you…"

Roxas turned back to look at Axel, his hands lightly grasping his other pillow incase he needed to hurl it at him again.

"And that would be what exactly?"

"Well…I'm going to be gone for the rest of the summer and I wanted to know if you were going to be ok by yourself for the next two months."

Roxas blinked, gone for the whole summer? As if things couldn't get any worse, his second best friend was abandoning him too. Well, at least it wasn't for the girl than he had been infatuated with since the 6th grade.

"Gone? Where are you going?"

Axel smiled, "Get this! I got the coolest job ever!"

"Where? Busing tables at the skin bar down the street?"

Axel laughed, Roxas knew him too well.

"Ha! I wish…but close enough though! I'm heading down to Destiny Islands on a cruise ship and I'll be working as a waiter on board the whole summer!"

Roxas blinked again, trying his hardest not to get jealous at the luck Axel always seemed to have.

"That's great man, have a great summer then…"

Axel tipped his head to the side, a very questioning look lightly gracing his features.

"So that's it? So long, goodbye, have a nice trip? Aren't you going to miss me at all?"

Roxas snorted, "You? No."

Axel smirked, "Well that's too bad, 'cause I was going to ask you if you wanted to come along…but since you're not going to miss me at all then I'll just have to find someone else to give the job to."

Roxas couldn't help but perk his head up at the response. A chance to earn some cash, and to get away from everyone seemed like a dream come true.

"What? You're kidding me right?"

"Nope…my friend at the cruise company needed a few extra hands for the summer season and asked if I knew anyone that wanted to help out. The pay is pretty good, but it's all the other benefits that really take the cake."

Roxas smiled, for once things were looking up in his favor for a change.

"Well! I was wondering when I was going to see you smile again! Welcome back Roxas!"

He hurled the other pillow in his hand at Axel, this time actually succeeding in knocking him square in the face.

Roxas laughed and walked out the door, a smile clearly plastered across his face as he walked by Axel.

"Shut up Axel…"

* * *

_**Ok…so this is it for the first chapter! I hope anyone that's reading will give this story a chance and stick with it. Please review if you can, and keep the Flames out of my mail box! I don't appreciate those…**_

_**-NightRaven13**_


	2. Parting Ways

_**Hey everyone! NightRaven13 here for all of you again!**_

_**So here we go again! A new chapter for all of you to read! Thanks go out to everyone that's read and reviewed so far! Thanks also go out to all of those that have placed this story in their Faves list or in their alert lists thus far! You guys rock and I hope you keep reading! Anyway…here's a new chapter for all of you so read on and enjoy!**_

_**Love,**_

_**-NightRaven13**_

_**P.S- Don't forget to review please! Reviews make my day awesome!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Let's get the record straight…I don't even own the money in my wallet! You think I'd own Kingdom Hearts or its associated characters? No! There…I made my point…**_

* * *

_**Previously…in our last chapter….**_

He hurled the other pillow in his hand at Axel, this time actually succeeding in knocking him square in the face.

Roxas laughed and walked out the door, a smile clearly plastered across his face as he walked by Axel.

"Shut up Axel…"

* * *

"Hurry up man! They're not going to be waiting for us just because we're the hired help!"

Roxas frowned, but picked up the pace anyway and trailed behind Axel like a child behind his mother. He had no idea where they were heading, or how they were getting there but was quick to follow anyway. He had been excited at the prospect of leaving Twilight Town behind him for the summer, but was not expecting to leave so soon. Axel had given him the news just two days prior, and this morning had proceeded to waking him up with a rock through the window and into his face. Before he knew it, he had two duffle bags packed and was locking all the windows in his small apartment for the summer.

"Axel, are you ever going to tell me where we are going?"

"No, now shut up and start picking up the pace before I decide to leave you behind instead!"

Roxas deepened the frown on his face, "I am! You're the one that's practically running!"

"Just shut up and walk faster…"

"You know…you could've warned me ahead of time that you were leaving in just two days!"

Axel laughed, "Not my fault man! Blame it on the ship! They weren't expecting it this soon…before I knew it I get a call from my guy at the cruise company at 5 in the morning asking me to come into work two days earlier than expected…"

Roxas groaned, "Couldn't you just have left me behind and sent for me later?"

"Did you really want to stick around here that badly for the next month?"

Roxas stopped dead in his tracks. Moping around Twilight Town did not seem like the most desirable thing to do. For one, now that Hayner and Olette were "official", as many in town put it, it was obvious Roxas would see less and less of them. Not that he wanted to see them at all to begin with. As for Pence, he had been carted off to film camp for the summer and was not likely to return until school started up again.

All in all, it was either leave with Axel or stay behind alone in Twilight Town.

Roxas shook his head, it was more than obvious to him now that he had made the right decision.

"Come on man! Hurry the hell up!"

He picked up the pace, trailing behind Axel and up Sunset Hill to parts unknown.

* * *

"The train station?"

Axel smirked, then dropped his bags on the floor in front of him.

"Well yeah…how else did you think we were going to get to the port?"

Roxas scratched his head, and after deliberating for a moment, concluded that the local train was the best way to go.

"Well…a taxi would've been more direct…"

Axel laughed, "You got twenty bucks to spend on a cab to the port?"

"Good point…student discount fare it is…"

Both boys dropped to the floor, then sat and waited for their train to arrive. Early morning rays from the sun slowly crawled their way towards them as the minutes ticked by. Roxas couldn't help but itch with a slight hint of impatience.

"How long is this going to take?"

"Any minute now…" was Axel's reply.

Roxas sighed, it seemed like an eternity.

"Cheer up…there it is…"

Roxas turned his head up, and sure enough, there came the train in the distance. Before he knew it, he was on his feet with both his bags in his hands.

"Whoa man, the train ain't here yet! Step back a little unless you plan to ride the train all the way over there on the wheels."

As the train pulled into the station, the rays of the sun finally caught up to both boys standing on the platform.

"All those heading to Twilight port please step on!"

Axel smiled, both bags at the ready and jumping on. "I call shotgun! Window seat is totally mine!"

Roxas laughed, "Fine, just don't hog the arm rest."

"Roxas! Wait!"

He cringed, that voice was the last one he wanted to hear.

"Please! Stop for a second!"

Roxas turned slowly around, and sure enough, there was Olette running towards him as fast as she could.

"Olette…what are you doing here?"

She stopped in front of him, catching her breath as best she could.

"I wanted …to see…you…before you left…"

He stared down at her, at a loss for words.

"Why?"

"The lady at the ice cream shop told me. She said you were leaving for the summer…is this true?"

"I'm getting on a train aren't I?"

Axel stuck his head out of the train door, slightly frowning at the sight of Olette on the platform.

"Dude…we don't got all day! Hop on already!"

Roxas turned back to Axel. "Ok! Keep your damn pants on! I'll get on right now!"

Axel shrugged, then slipped back inside.

"Roxas…please don't leave…I have a real bad feeling about this…"

"Its fine Olette…I'll be back before school starts. You have a nice summer with Hayner, and say hi to Pence for me next time you get a chance to talk to him."

Roxas turned, then slipped onto the train.

"Roxas! Please be careful! And I'm sorry!"

As he made his way down the corridor and into the seat next to Axel, he could clearly hear Olette out of their side window. He pushed the window open, then stuck his head out in order to respond.

"Sorry for what?"

She yelled back over the noise of the train.

"I'm sorry about the whole Hayner thing! I didn't know! I'm sorry! Please be careful! Come back soon!"

Roxas waved, then stuck his head back in and shut the window.

Olette stood alone on the platform, watching as the train slowly pulled away from sight.

"Please come back Roxas…"

* * *

Back on the train, Roxas slowly leaned back against his own seat, a slight smile gracing his face.

Axel smirked at this, apparently quite amused.

"You believe her?"

He laughed, a solitary response escaping him.

"No."

* * *

_**So there you have it everyone! I feel bad for Olette now! I think I treated her a little too harshly, but given the situation it makes sense! I mean honestly, if someone you've liked forever turns around and starts dating your best friend, would you be all happy and friendly? No, of course not! See? Case closed!**_

_**Any who, don't get me wrong! I love Olette as much as the next girl! I've even drawn her a few times before this! SO before anyone asks, I am not an Olette hater. I just decided to write up Roxas' attitude towards her a bit differently than most! Hope no one pelts me in the head for it later…**_

_**Anyway…you know the drill…**_

_**Review and make me happy!**_

_**-NightRaven13**_


	3. And So The Adventure Begins

_**Hey everyone! I'm back with a new chapter!**_

_**So I wrote up a new chapter for all of you to read! Thanks so much for the reviews and encouraging words! I appreciate everything you guys leave in your reviews and hope to hear from you all again! Thanks also go out to everyone who subscribed to the alerts for this story as well as faved it! You guys rock and I hope you like this chapter enough to review it!**_

_**Now read and enjoy!**_

_**Lots of love,**_

_**-NightRaven13**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing related or even affiliated to Kingdom Hearts…just this story. **_

* * *

**_Last time...._**

Back on the train, Roxas slowly leaned back against his own seat, a slight smile gracing his face.

Axel smirked at this, apparently quite amused.

"You believe her?"

He laughed, a solitary response escaping him.

"No."

* * *

Twilight Port was bustling with people when they arrived, so many that Roxas lost track of Axel inside the crowd several times before they arrived at the office of the cruise company. Pulling along his luggage was not an easy task either, and he quickly began to reconsider having packed so much in the first place.

"Alright, here we are!"

Roxas looked up, and sure enough, there lay the rather fancy looking building in front of them. Axel led the way as they walked in to the fairly large looking lobby, with several people walking about and transporting luggage as they went. Axel walked up to the nearest registration desk and waved hello.

"Hey there! My friend and I are with the crew, you know where we are supposed to go to report in for the next cruise out of here?"

The lady at the desk turned, a look of utter boredom clearly plastered across her face. Her polished nails began to type something up on the keyboard, then pulled out a piece of paper from the desk beneath her and wrote something down.

"Here you go, go down through that walkway and report to Mr. Saix"

Axel smiled, "Thanks a lot miss."

Roxas and Axel walked towards the place the lady at the counter had pointed, bags dragged along behind them.

"What kind of a name is Saix?"

Axel laughed, "What kind of a name is Roxas?"

Roxas frowned, but said nothing and kept walking.

They found that the indicated walkway led down to the actual port and towards what appeared to be their ship.

"Is that it?"

Axel whistled, apparently impressed with the ship's specks.

"I think so."

The ship in question was quite large, slightly more antique looking in comparison to the newer cruise ships out at sea. Its white exterior looked freshly painted with the words _S.S_ _Eventide_ gracing its side, but the black exterior beneath gave it an almost menacing look. The closer Roxas walked towards the ship, the bigger and more intimidating it seemed to be. The three smoke stacks above only served to further press that ominous feeling to anyone seeing a cruise ship for the first time.

"That thing is huge" was all Roxas could think of saying.

"Yeah, well that _thing_ is where you are going to be for the next two months."

"Yeah…so I see…"

Axel laughed, "Hope you don't get sea sick!"

Roxas stopped, he hadn't thought of that.

"Sea sick?"

* * *

"You wouldn't happen to be Saix, would you?"

A man with long bluish hair turned, a serious look and an x shaped scar gracing his face.

"Yes, can I help you?" He asked, a calm monotone voice replied.

Axel pulled Roxas next to him, then handed Saix the paper that the lady at the counter had given them.

"Yeah, we happened to be with the newly hired crew. The lady at the desk told us to report to you."

Saix said nothing. Instead he pulled out a pen from his breast pocket and wrote something on the paper just handed to him.

"Both of you are new…correct?"

Axel frowned, "Yeah…I just said that."

Saix simply stared back in return, his cat like eyes turning to look at Roxas every second or so. Roxas couldn't help but step back slightly from him, despite the fact that Saix's eyes followed his every movement anyway.

"Never mind what you said, here are your rooms as well as your key cards. Report for duty at the Sunset Lounge in the first class vicinities at around 6. Try not to be late."

Axel took the paper along with the plastic cards, then pulled Roxas away from the man and up the walkway that led into the ship. Roxas couldn't help but shiver as they walked away from Saix.

"That guy is majorly creepy."

"Yeah…tell me about it….and deft too it seems."

* * *

Axel had no trouble finding their rooms, especially since they were just below the first class area where the rest of the crew seemed to sleep. Both boys were fortunate enough to have their rooms right next to each other, with an interconnecting door in between.

Roxas was the first to step into his room, and was quickly impressed by how large it was. The bed was obviously a decent queen sized one, but it was defiantly better than anything he had at home. It slightly resembled a hotel room, but with a much classier feel and a much better view than most.

"Wow…this place is awesome!"

Axel peeked in through the interconnecting door, a smile plastered across his face.

"So I take it your room is as cool as mine?"

Roxas smiled, "Hell yeah it's cool!"

Axel walked in and took a full look around. A long low whistled escaped his lips after his quick inspection of the room Roxas would be staying in.

"Honestly, I think your room is better than mine dude."

Roxas laughed, "Yeah well I claimed it already so don't get any ideas about taking my room and the card for it too."

Axel snapped his fingers, "Damn, you know me too well."

Roxas laughed, "Yeah…well aside from that, I think we better get our stuff settled down before work starts."

Axel nodded, "You're right…will do then. I'll see you before our shift starts."

Roxas waved in return, "Ok…see you later then."

Axel left through the same door he had entered, leaving Roxas alone in his new room with his duffle bags littering the floor. He stared, slightly groaning at the prospect of having to unpack everything before work.

"Aww…why did I have to pack so much?"

He stood up. Might as well get it done sooner than later.

* * *

It was dark and frightfully cold.

Tears were clearly streaming down her cheeks, and the slightly thin dress was not helping against the cold. She held her arms closer to her chest, hoping that a little warmth would come from the action alone. Her breath came out in slight heaving sobs, forming little clouds of vapor in front of her tear stained face. She tried to wipe the annoying tears away, but could not stop them from flowing as freely as they were. Her heart had been royally broken, and no tissue could help mend the loneliness and betrayal she felt at that moment.

She sobbed, her cold hands looking paler than usual against the little light around her.

"No more…never again…never again…"

She sobbed even harder at the thought, at the mere memory of what had transpired earlier that night.

"I want to get out…I want to leave…now!"

She slammed her hand against the wall, a loud noise echoing against the hard steal.

"That…my dear…can be arranged."

She stopped, that voice sounded dreadfully familiar. She turned her head slowly, only to be met by a towering silhouette.

"You…" she spoke the word accusingly at the shadow before her.

A strong hand gripped her own, the other one covering her mouth as she struggled to get free.

"No! Leave me alone! Let go of me!"

The horrid mouth leaned against her ear, whispering threatening words than sent a chill down her spine.

"Never…dead or alive…you are mine princess…"

She paled, biting her teeth down as hard as she could against his hand. She could clearly feel the strange taste of copper and bile forming in her mouth as she did so.

"Someone help me! Help me please!" she managed to scream before he clapped his hand back down against her face.

"No one will help you now…NO ONE!"

She closed her eyes, a muffled scream escaping her lips as she did so.

* * *

Roxas awoke with a start, heart racing a mile a minute.

He sat up in bed quickly, searching against the evening darkness for the source of the scream. All in his room seemed normal enough, but the memory of the sound of the heart wrenching scream would not leave him. He tried to get out of bed, but was surprised to find that he had become entangled among his bed sheets. Come to think of it, at what point had he fallen asleep?

The last thing he recalled was being in the middle of stuffing his extra clothes into the drawers provided for him, then nothing else. At no point whatsoever did he remember going to bed, let alone falling asleep.

He pulled the covers off, slowly untangled himself from the mess he was in, then got up and began to search his room. After a few minutes of endless searching, and after childishly searching under the bed as a small precaution, Roxas sat back against his bed at a loss for words.

"What the hell was that about?"

"Hey Roxas! Open up man! We got work like in twenty minutes!"

He turned, the pounding noise against the door bringing him back to reality.

"Alright! Alright! I'm coming!"

He walked to the door, then pulled it open to find Axel starring back at him with a look of utter annoyance.

"About time dude! Get your ass ready and let's go! I don't want to piss that Saix guy off on my first day!"

Roxas blinked, still slightly lost for words.

"What time is it?"

Axel blinked, obviously confused at the question.

"What do you mean 'what time is it'? What kind of stupid question is that? Its twenty till six! What the hell have you been doing for the last three hours? Smoking pot or something?"

Roxas blinked, "I have no idea…"

Axel poked his head through the door, almost considering his last question to be true.

"I came to call you around 3:30…but you didn't even answer the door. I even tried the door between our rooms, but it was locked."

"It was?"

Axel nodded, "Yeah…I wanted to see if you wanted to go out on deck and watch the boat leave port…but when you didn't answer I figured you were already there."

"You mean we're out at sea already?"

"Yeah…we've been out at sea for almost two hours already…where the hell have you been?"

Roxas shook his head, he was thoroughly confused now.

"I have no idea…I seriously don't! Last I remember, I was still trying to unpack my stuff…then the next thing I know, I wake up in bed two and a half hours later."

Axel looked at Roxas carefully, concern drifting slowly into his eyes.

"Hmm…maybe you passed out because of sea sickness or something…I was only kidding when I said you would get it, but looks like you did."

Roxas nodded in return, "Maybe you're right…"

"Yeah…you should head down to the doctor if you feel weird later on…right now we have to head out to the Sunset Lounge upstairs."

Roxas nodded in agreement, then grabbed his jacket and key card and headed out the door with Axel leading the way.

Maybe it was sea sickness, at least he hoped it was.

* * *

The lounge had barely opened, and already it was bustling with people.

Axel and Roxas were at a loss, they had no idea where to go or what to do. Several waiters and waitresses kept passing by in a hurry, so much in a hurry that Roxas couldn't seem to stop any of them to ask for help.

"Axel…what are we suppose to do?"

Axel grinned, "Here man, let me try…you suck at getting attention."

Roxas frowned, he wasn't sure that was completely true.

"Excuse me miss! You mind telling me where I'm supposed to report in to work with someone as lovely as yourself?"

The young girl smiled, apparently flattered by Axel's comment. Roxas couldn't help but smack his hand against his face.

"Sure…just head over to the bar over there and talk to Larxy…be careful though…she's not exactly a happy ray of sunshine."

Axel nodded in return, thanking the girl as she walked away to serve a new group of people that had just come in for dinner.

"Roxas, I think I'm going to like it here."

Roxas rolled his eyes, "Whatever…let's just get over there and clock in."

Roxas and Axel made their way over to the bar, and sure enough, there stood a young woman serving drinks like an expert. She was rather tall, about Axel height, and looked to be about Axel's age as well if not slightly older. Her blond hair was tided back tightly away from her face, except for her bangs, which stuck out like two antennas out of her scalp.

Roxas was the first to approach her.

"Excuse me miss, a waitress told us that we were suppose to talk to you about clocking in."

The girl at the bar ignored him, instead mixing what looked like a martini in record speed before serving it to a man at the end of the bar.

"Um…miss?"

Her head snapped up, a look of dangerous anger shinning in her cold blue eyes.

"Yeah…I heard you kid. Now shut up and let me work, I got fat rich slobs over here that need to get plowed."

Roxas blinked, Axel merely chuckled quietly behind him. He leaned near Roxas and whispered quietly into his ear.

"Told you! You suck at getting attention!"

"Shut up!"

The blond turned, her cold eyes fixed on Roxas.

"What was that kid? You have some kind of problem?"

Roxas gulped "Uh…no ma'am!"

She fixed her eyes on Roxas with a deadly stare, then slowly let a casual grin grace her lips.

"Well aren't you quick to respond…you afraid or something?"

"Uh…no."

She laughed, apparently quite amused with Roxas' jerky response.

"Alright, you're so eager to work? Fine…let's get you started then!"

She reached under the counter, then pulled out what looked like two uniforms and a couple of other things along with them. She tossed one at Roxas, and the other one at Axel, who caught it with an expert hold while Roxas was bit clumsier with the catch.

"Alright, let's get things strait then. My name is Larxene, and I'm the one in charge on a daily basis. Marly is the boss, but since he's always in the kitchen, I'm the one who runs the ship up front here. Every day at 6, you report to me and clock in over there in the back office. All tips are up for grabs, and try not to piss off any of the rich people here. Get an order wrong, and its coming out of your salary. Any questions?"

Roxas blinked, "Uh yeah….what are we supposed to do?"

Larxene frowned, Roxas almost regretted the question the second the look formed on her face.

"Ok then…guess I'll have to baby you both until you get it right!"

She pointed at Axel, who frowned in response.

"You, flame hair, you'll be working as a waiter! Pick up the order booklet and go take in some orders! Write them clearly and leave them over by the order pick up station where Marly can see them. He's the guy with the bright pink hair, and don't you dare ask why…"

She turned, fixing her deadly stare at Roxas.

"And you…you'll be working as a busboy. Pick up the tray in the kitchen near the sink and start picking up plates…"

Roxas and Axel nodded in response, then turned and headed towards the bathrooms to change into their work clothes.

"Axel…she's scary…"

Axel laughed, "Yeah…and one hell of a hard ass too."

Roxas gulped, he wasn't so sure he was going to like this.

* * *

_**And there you have it all! Hope you like! Please review and tell me what you think ok? Thanks in advance and hope to hear from you soon!**_

_**Love,**_

_**-NightRaven13 **_


	4. Running After Phantoms

_**Hey everyone!**_

_**Here's another chapter for all of you guys to read. Sorry I didn't post sooner, but with the holidays coming up and all, I've been a bit busy! The same will probably be the case for the next week or so. *makes a sad face* Finals will be taking up most of my time which is why I wanted to finish this and post it up for all of you to see. No worries though, I'll be back after Finals week with a new chapter for all of you to read over Christmas! You can be sure of that!**_

_**Now about this chapter, it gave me a bit of trouble while I was working on it. So much trouble that I ended up rewriting a scene or two while I was working on it! Hopefully I won't be hit by the evil writer's block wall anytime soon so that I can whip up a new chapter! Well anywho, read on and enjoy everyone….and have a happy holidays!**_

_**Lots of holiday love,**_

_**-NightRaven13**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything associated KH1 or KH2, so stop asking!**_

* * *

The dishes crashed against the soapy water, officially completing the twelfth repeat of the same cycle.

Roxas was officially dead tired. Dish duty, as well as busboy duty, completely sucked as much as he was concerned. The dishes were heavy and filthy, and the soapy water reeked of something Roxas couldn't quite put his finger on. It took all the strength he had left in him not to vomit into the pungent smelling water before him.

Axel had been little help. For every order he placed at the front, six piles of dishes usually followed for that table. Roxas was usually stuck hauling away whatever eating disaster the customers usually left behind.

One thing became very certain for Roxas during his first shift on board, the wealthy patrons of the Lounge could be very messy eaters as well as horrible tippers.

He sighed, a whole nights work and he had only gathered fifteen dollars in tips. The rest had gone to waiters and waitresses who were quicker at the grab than he was. All in all, it had been a very hard and unproductive night. Roxas was just glad that his shift was officially coming to a close.

"You! Blond boy! Your shift's over! You can go back to your room already…see you here at 6 pm again tomorrow!"

Roxas turned, nodding in response and letting what dishes were left to clatter into the sink. He'd let the next poor sap in charge of the next shift pick up where he was leaving off. He pulled off the apron he had been wearing and left it next to the sink.

"Ok…see you tomorrow then."

The pink haired chef merely waved back, showing little acknowledgement to Roxas' jester. He merely shrugged in response, leaving the chef everyone called Marley alone to finish his business.

He walked out of the kitchen, quickly walking by Larxene before she managed a chance to notice him. He ended up crashing into a speeding Axel instead.

"Hey you! Where are you going?"

Roxas waved his hands down, trying desperately to get Axel to lower his voice. While Larxene had merely been vicious early on in the evening, she had become downright murderous to Roxas as the night progressed. She obviously did not like him very much, and was not embarrassed to show it.

"Axel! Keep your damn voice down! Larxene will hear you!"

Axel smiled, "What? You afraid of the blond at the bar? Give me a break Roxas! Her bark is worse than her bite!"

Laughter followed right behind Roxas, making his blood run cold.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that flame boy…"

Larxene walked by just then, leather jacket slung behind her shoulder and an evil smile gracing her cold face.

Roxas blinked, lost for words.

Larxene merely laughed in response.

"See you two tomorrow…"

Axel laughed, "See…told you she ain't so bad."

Roxas frowned, "Yeah…right…she's a puppy all right."

Axel merely laughed and pulled Roxas along, leading him towards the main office to clock out.

"Tell you what, my shift doesn't end for another two minutes so why don't you wait out on deck and I'll catch up with you right now?"

Roxas nodded, punching the keys on the computer before grabbing his sweater and heading out.

"Alright…see you outside. Try not to take too long though!"

Axel smiled and nodded, walking away with a tray of dishes and disappearing into the kitchen.

* * *

The air was cold, but at least it was refreshing.

He walked out on deck, pulling his black hooded sweater over his head as he did so. The breeze picked up slightly, sending a refreshing chill down his back. The fog had begun to slightly roll in, masking the darkness ahead with a silver blanket and heightening the brightness of the ship at sea.

It was all quite relaxing to Roxas, and it beat being in Twilight Town any day.

"Heh…so much for having a lame summer!"

He stepped near the railing, letting his arms drop over the edge of the cold metal bars. The ocean below churned slightly as the ship moved forward, sending little waves farther out to sea and into parts unknown. For some odd reason, it made Roxas step away a little.

"I…wouldn't do that…if I were you."

Roxas jumped, pushing away from the railing and turning around.

Not a soul was there.

He blinked, lost for words. He could have sworn he had heard someone there just a few minutes before.

"What the hell?"

Quiet crying could be heard in the distance, not too far from where he was now. He turned back towards the railing, only to find a girl standing not too far away down the length of the deck. Her face was hidden behind the mass of light blond hair she had, while her pale skin matched oddly with the long white dress she was wearing. She was obviously a first class passenger, but Roxas couldn't recall ever seeing her up at dinner.

"Uh miss…are you ok?"

The girl continued to sob, not once bothering to turn around to face Roxas.

"Hey! Are you ok? Something bothering you? Hey!"

He stepped forward, about to grab her arm, when someone broke his attention.

"Hey Roxas! Let's get the hell back inside! Its freggin' freezing out here!"

Roxas turned, Axel was in the middle of pulling his jacket on and was clearly already freezing.

"Hold on you insensitive prick! Can't you see this chick is a little upset right now?"

Axel blinked, rubbing his hands together against the cold.

"Dude…what chick?"

Roxas frowned, ready to smack Axel across the head, when he turned and realized what Axel had been talking about.

The girl was gone.

"What the hell?"

Axel laughed, walked up to Roxas and leaned against the railing where the girl had been just seconds before.

"Dude…the sea is really starting to get to you…not only are you flipping out but you're seeing invisible chicks that aren't even there."

Roxas just blinked, still puzzled as well as lost for words. He was sure that there had been someone there, where they had gone so fast was what was troubling him.

Axel sensed this, and moved in quickly to divert Roxas from having a sudden mental freak out.

"Alright dude…all invisible chicks aside. How's about we head down to one of these clubs and get ourselves some real ladies…you know…some that actually exist."

Roxas frowned, "I don't know…"

"Oh come on! Larxene told me about this one club on the other side of the ship that gets major action at this hour!"

"Ok…now I know this isn't a good idea…since when were you such good friends with Larxene?"

Axel smiled, "I'm not…we're more like acquaintances…she's not so bad once you talk to her."

Roxas frowned, a sarcastic laugh escaping him as he did so.

"Yeah…and Rottweiler's are really sensitive puppies once you get to know them."

Now it was Axel's turn to frown.

"Dude…enough with the dog comparisons…you're making the dogs feel bad."

* * *

Roxas walked alone down the empty hallway.

The lights flickered strangely as he did so, but on he walked anyway. All of those who slept on the crew's floor were either in bed, working the later shifts, or off in one of the clubs like Axel was.

Axel kept on insisting that Roxas join him, but after threatening him severely with sudden death, Axel had jokingly agreed to let him retreat for the night. Roxas was dead tired, and partying off in one of the ship's fancy clubs was the last thing he felt like doing at that moment.

He yawned slightly as he slid his card key and opened the door to his room. He pulled his hooded sweater over his head as he walked in, and then let it fall to the floor as he crashed onto his bed.

He sighed, and let his muscles relax at the comfort surrounding him.

"This day has been way too long…"

His eyes began to drift shut slightly, sleep threatening to overcome him soon if he didn't get up and change.

"I'll get up right now…in a bit…"

He yawned again, but was cut short by the sound of desperate crying outside his door. His eyes quickly snapped open at the sound, driving him out of bed and near the door. He pressed his ear against the wooden frame, and sure enough, someone was crying on the other side.

Something told him to keep the door closed, to lock it tight and jump into bed underneath the covers until morning.

Of course, morbid curiosity got the best of him first.

He opened the door, and was surprised to find that only a few lights in the hallway were on. The rest had mysteriously flickered off, giving the hall a very eerie look.

Roxas stepped out into the hall, letting the door shut itself out of its own accord. He turned to his left, and found that the lights towards the upper floors were still functional. Once he turned to the right, however, he found that nearly all the lights were off and that the way towards the lower floors was nearly non visible.

"What is going on here? Did we have a power shortage or something?"

He walked towards one of the wall lights that decorated the hallway, and sure enough, found that the light had appeared to have blown a fuse.

"What is going on?"

A slight sobbing noise was the only response he received. He turned towards the sound, and could slightly make out the figure of a young girl turning the corner towards the darker part of the hallway.

"Hey! Wait a second!"

He jumped up, and then followed at a run, occasionally trying hard not to trip despite the sudden darkness that surrounded him in the hallway. He turned the corner and ran further down the hallway, occasionally making out the retreating figure of the girl ahead of him.

"Hold on a second!"

Roxas continued to follow, slightly catching up to her as she ran up a small flight of stairs and up into one of the upper decks of the ship. He pushed the door open and was greeted by a strong gust of wind, one that immediately sent a shiver down his spine.

"Damn, I forgot my stupid sweater back in the room!"

He continued on anyway, ignoring the violent cold that had suddenly began to attack him and followed the girl. As he began to reach her, she turned, stopping him dead in his tracks.

Her piercing blue eyes stared him down, a look of utter despair engulfing her face and permeating the atmosphere around them. Roxas was transfixed, unable to move any farther towards the pale girl.

"Go away…"

The whispered warning sent a frightening shiver down his spine. She turned and continued to run, but Roxas did not bother to follow.

"Wait!" he called out.

She turned another corner, Roxas barely reaching the spot a half second later.

But he was too late.

The girl was gone.

* * *

_**And there you are folks! Hope you like! Please review if you have the chance! Reviews make me ever so happy…**_

_**Love,**_

_**-NightRaven13**_


	5. The White Lady

_**Happy new year everyone!**_

_**Hope 09 has been treating you well so far! As a special gift (And a late Christmas one at that!) I bring you all a new chapter to start off the New Year! Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did writing it!**_

_**Read on and enjoy!**_

_**Lots of 09 love,**_

_**-NightRaven13**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its associated characters….just this story…**_

* * *

"Wait!" he called out.

She turned another corner, Roxas barely reaching the spot a half second later.

But he was too late.

The girl was gone.

* * *

Roxas sat at the edge of his bed. Axel was busy in the next room getting ready.

"Are you done yet? I'm starving man!"

He could clearly hear Axel laughing from the next room, accompanied by the sounds of slamming drawers and urgent searching.

"I'll take that as a no…"

Again, Axel's laughter drifted over from the next room. Roxas couldn't help but sigh, with his luck he wouldn't be getting breakfast until sometime after lunch. He knocked his sneakers off and settled back into his bed, staring intently at the ceiling and counting the seconds as they ticked by.

"Don't worry man! I'll be a sec!"

"That's what you said five minutes ago! And twenty minutes before that!"

He frowned, his stomach grumbling as if agreeing with his previous statement. If he didn't get some food into himself soon, someone was bound to get hurt, most likely Axel for being so slow on this particular morning.

_Hmm, probably from being out all night last night…_

He frowned, it explained why he was first at getting up this morning and not Axel. Then again, sleep had nearly avoided him completely last night, and after a while he couldn't help but stay awake and wait for the rest of the ship to do the same. Last night had not been a pleasant one, especially after the odd encounter with the young blond girl he kept seeing.

Just who the hell was she?

He frowned once more, staring intently at the ceiling as if the answer was hidden somewhere within the pattern of the tiles. The girl had been clearly upset over something, but why she kept avoiding him and disappearing off into nowhere was what was really annoying him.

_Argh, what am I thinking? She's just some rich girl who's probably being overly dramatic about something, why the hell should I care?_

He nodded, it made perfect sense. As far as he was concerned, girls were just a weird bunch anyway, whether they were rich or not. He had had enough experience with Olette's odd mood changes in the past to know as much. How was this girl any different?

_But she is different, and you know it… _

Roxas shook his head, apparently food deprivation was getting to him. He sat up quickly, and jumped out of bed.

"Are you ready now! I'm starting to hear voices over here! That's how damn hungry I am!"

Axel poked his head out of their adjoining door, a smile on his face.

"Yeah…let's go then…I don't want you going crazy on my account!"

* * *

Breakfast was surprisingly good.

After a bitter fight over where they should grab a bite, Axel had managed to convince Roxas to head back over to the Sunset Lounge, despite all desire to do otherwise.

"See! Told you it wasn't going to be so bad! Most rich folks head down over to the tea room to grab brunch instead of coming over here. Marley told me so."

Roxas shoved the last bit of omelet on his plate into his mouth, content with just getting breakfast out of the way.

"Mhm…yeah…I can see…as much."

Axel frowned, a slight look of disgust forming on his face.

"Dude, eat with your damn mouth closed…have some class."

Roxas smiled, purposefully showing his teeth.

"You're one to talk."

"Yeah…but at least I don't smile like an idiot with bits of egg still stuck to my teeth!"

"Hmm…I would think about that carefully before giving such a sure answer."

Axel and Roxas turned, apparently someone had overheard their conversation and they were more than willing to let them know.

"Well look who's making a rare appearance out of the kitchen…if it isn't Marley himself!"

The pink haired chef waved, walking over and pulling up a chair next to their table. Roxas was slightly startled, he hadn't noticed how young Marley really looked without his hair tied away from his face and tucked into his hat. This morning, Marley had his hair loose and quite stylishly messy, with thick heavy pink waves falling over his shoulders. His style of dress was also more relaxed, with torn up jeans and a regular black t-shirt clearly seen underneath his regular apron.

"So I take it my breakfast platter was a success?"

Roxas nodded, taking a sip of orange juice along with his last bite.

"Well that's good to hear! Glad you guys decided to come down here, normally I don't get many visitors at this hour so most food is up for grabs. You guys are welcome to show up here anytime before dinner from now on."

Axel nodded in response, pulling out his wallet as he did so.

"So how much do we owe you for this?"

Marley fixed Axel with a confused stare.

"Nothing! You guys work for me on a nightly basis from now on…why the hell would I charge you?"

Axel smiled, "Well that's awfully generous of you."

"Nah…consider it as one of the perks that come with working on a cruise ship…all meals are for free."

Roxas smiled, he liked the sound of that.

"Thank you very much Mr. Marley!"

"Actually, it's Marluxia…but everyone here calls me Marley for short. You have any idea how hard it is to work in a kitchen when waiters and cooks can't pronounce your name for shit?"

At this, both Roxas and Axel laughed. Apparently Marley was a much nicer character that he first appeared to be.

"By the way Marley, this eating disaster over here is my best friend for life Roxas." Axel ruffled Roxas' hair from across the table, "Excuse his table matters, he doesn't get out very much."

Roxas frowned, "Hey!"

"That's ok, I've seen richer people eat worse." At this Marley couldn't help but smile, apparently sharing a privet joke with himself, "Anyway, how's your stay onboard been so far? Seen any interesting people yet?"

Now it was Roxas' turn to smile. He was fairly certain that the blond girl qualified as someone interesting.

"Well…not really…"

Axel snorted, "Ha…I beg to differ."

Marley turned to Axel, a look of curiosity quickly rushing to his face.

"You beg to differ how?"

Roxas frowned, "Axel! You don't have to tell him that! It wasn't a big deal! Besides, we both agreed it was nothing!"

Axel turned to Marley, completely disregarding Roxas' comments altogether.

"Well you see, our little friend here claims to have had a little run in with this blond chick just last night."

Marley smiled, "Oh really? Do tell."

At this, Roxas couldn't help but interject, "It was nothing!"

"Of course it wasn't, it was weird!"

Marley smiled, "So your friend here ran in to a pretty little blond girl, how is that weird? If you ask me that happens all the time! I run into Larxene more times than I can count in one night."

"Yeah, but how many of them do other people actually see?"

Marley frowned, Roxas began to sink even lower into his chair before Axel broke in the news like the gossip he seemed to be this morning.

"What do you mean 'actually see'? I would say all of them, but do feed me the punch line Axel…I have a feeling this is going somewhere…"

Axel smiled, "Yeah well the girl I'm talking about was never there to begin with! Roxas claims to have seen her, but when I showed up there was nobody there to begin with."

Axel sat back against his chair, waiting for Marley's reaction to the tale. He was rather surprised when he was met with a somewhat knowing smile on Marley's face, rather than a disbelieving one instead.

"Roxas…what did the girl look like?"

Roxas sat up, slowly pulling himself up from the sinking position he had been in. He thought about the girl for a second, quietly going over the last encounter with the pale girl he had conveniently forgot to retell Axel that morning.

"Well…she was a bit shorter than me…and had shoulder length blond hair. She was also pretty pale, kind of sickly looking too…"

Marley smiled, "Did this girl happen to be wearing a long white dress? Somewhat old school looking?"

Roxas nodded, "How did you know?"

"Simple…nearly everyone who works on board has seen her at least once."

"Who is she?"

At this Marley paused, a very knowing smile creeping slowly onto his face.

"They call her 'The White Lady', but truth be told no one is really sure who she is."

Axel frowned, "Is she a frequent passenger on board this ship or something?"

"Not technically, more like a resident ghost you could say."

Both Axel and Roxas turned to look at Marley, a look of matching disbelief quickly gracing their faces. Axel looked about ready to laugh.

"You're serious?"

"Actually…I'm dead serious about this one. Nearly everyone that's work on board for more than a year has seen her. She likes to take her occasional stroll around the ship every once and a while. Hells, if you don't believe me go ahead and ask Larxy! She got quite a scare one night when she ran into her in the bathroom."

Axel laughed, Roxas couldn't help but snicker. The thought of Larxene running scared out of a bathroom seemed priceless.

"So what's the story behind this ghost babe everyone's been seeing?"

Marley smiled, surprised that Axel even seemed interested in the topic.

"Well, like I said, no one really knows for sure. There are legends about it though…"

"Like?"

"Well, some say she was just some rich girl who accidently died from food poisoning."

At this, both Axel and Roxas couldn't help but simultaneously stare at their empty plates. Marley, however, went on completely unaware of the action.

"Others say she was just some girl that drowned in the first class pool, apparently not a very good swimmer according to those stories."

Roxas frowned, "Well, that sucks!"

Axel nodded in turn. "Tell me about it! Imagine, dying because you forgot how to doggie paddle!"

Marley merely shrugged his shoulders in response, "Well, that's just how that particular story goes. But I've heard other people say otherwise, according to their versions there's more to the story than just simple food poisoning or bad swimming skills."

"Oh really? And that would be?"

"Well…some say that this girl got caught up in some bad situations. Meddled with the wrong people, then got killed and thrown overboard for it."

Axel frowned, "Well, that's harsh."

"Yup…or at least that's how the story goes…"

Roxas stared, carefully playing with his empty glass as he let the information Marley just shared sink in. Well, at least now he knew he wasn't completely crazy! Apparently, half the crew on board was too.

"What else do they say about her?"

Marley turned and stared at Roxas, slightly startled at the fact that Roxas had actually said anything after remaining quiet for so long.

"Well…that's just about it. The girl got involved with the wrong guy, and then paid dearly for it."

Roxas frowned, "You mean some guy had her killed just because she liked him to much? What an ass…"

Marley laughed, "Yeah…I suppose so…"

"Excuse me! Could I have a bit of service over here?"

All three turned in the direction of the voice. Apparently a new customer had decided to settle himself in while Marley had been in the middle of his ghost story.

"Be right with you sir!" He turned back to Axel and Roxas, "Sorry guys! Duty calls…"

Roxas pushed away from his chair and got up along with Marley, "Let me take the order down for you man, it's the least I can do after you fixed up breakfast for us."

"Alright, suite yourself!" he leaned down next to Roxas and whispered carefully, "Do me a favor and try not to write short hand like Axel does, it's so terribly hard to read!"

Somewhere behind them, Axel grumbled.

"Hey! I heard that!"

Roxas smiled, taking the pen and small pocket book that Marley offered him. He sauntered over to the table, trying his best to sound like a waiter.

"Hello sir! Sorry for the long wait…what can I get for you?"

The man turned, his odd red eyes fixed completely on Roxas. It was enough to send anyone running, but Roxas couldn't help but stay firmly in his place.

"So…what…can I get you?"

He continued to stare, silent the whole time. His odd eyes clearly taking the moment to study him, Roxas couldn't help but do the same. The man was obviously older, although not quite elderly to say the least. He looked to be about middle aged, with light blond hair slicked neatly back all the way down to his shoulders. His sharp face was framed by a beard of the same color, neatly trimmed and not a white hair on it as far as Roxas could tell.

All in all he seemed like a normal well kept man, except for the eyes. The eyes were downright creepy, and they didn't seem to fit all that well with the rest of the man's appearance.

Finally, the man spoke, addressing Roxas in a very deep yet wise sounding voice.

"I will have a Spanish omelet young man…and a cup of coffee if you were to be so kind."

Roxas nodded, quickly taking the order down before he forgot, "Anything else for you sir?"

"No…that will be all for now."

Roxas turned, ready to run away from the creepy man's presence, when his voice called his attention back.

"Young man, you are not a regular member of the crew…are you?"

Roxas turned, "No…not really sir…I normally just bus the tables here during dinner…why do you ask?"

The man stared, a slight smile gracing his face. Rather than soften the man's features, it only served to further press the creepy vibe he kept emanating.

"Oh…just curious I suppose…"

Roxas nodded, very slowly making his retreat back into the kitchen and away from the man's presence.

* * *

"I tell you Axel! That man was just plain creepy!"

Axel laughed, too busy with an ice cream bar in his mouth to retort to Roxas' comment.

"Gees man…the guy gave you a ten dollar tip! What the hell are you bitching and moaning for?"

Roxas frowned, "I don't know! For all we know the guy is some kind of sexual predator…"

"Yeah, and you're his next victim I take it?"

"Hey! You never know!"

Both boys laughed, comfortably walking down the first class deck. The ocean beyond them seemed very pleasant today, and the warm summer breeze floating around the ship was enough to send even the sickest of passengers out on deck and around the ship. Roxas and Axel were just a few of the people who were out and about, many exploring the ships' many facets for the first time today.

"Hey! How's about we check out the pool up here? I heard that lots of lovely ladies like tanning up here!"

Roxas smacked his face, the last thing he wanted to do was go pick up chicks with Axel.

"Do you ever quit?"

Axel smiled a wolfish grin, his green eyes glinting with a promise of devious plans behind them.

"Nope! Now come on!"

He pulled on his arm, Roxas couldn't help but follow.

* * *

Roxas sat with his bare feet over the pool and his back against the lifeguard tower, Axel was at it again.

Roxas hated to admit it, but he was very good at gaining attention from the fairer sex, just not very good at keeping it.

He sat and watched as he made conversation near the pool area. This was the fourth girl Axel had approached in the last five minutes, and again she looked about ready to run for the hills.

"So how about it hun? Interested in a little party action tonight?"

The petit brunette smiled uneasily, her little troupe of friends behind her obviously found the encounter amusing. Every time the poor girl turned to look for some support from her friends, they were too busy giggling at her to care.

"Um…well…."

"Aww come on…you can even bring your friends along! I won't mind one bit!"

At this, the giggling troupe of girls stopped their laughing. They were now caught in the same predicament their friend was in.

Roxas just laughed as he sat in the sidelines, it was getting more and more amusing by the second. Each time Axel got himself into these sorts of encounters, it always seemed terribly annoying to the opposing party and very much amusing to himself. Axel cared less, however, if one girl shot him down, he just simply moved on to the next set of girls he could find.

All in all it was quite an amusing way to spend the afternoon.

Roxas sat near the pool, kicking the water with his bare feet every few minutes or so. All the children were over on the other side of the pool, leaving Roxas to freely kick as much as he wanted in the deeper end of the pool and not cause trouble. The only annoying side to the whole thing was having to deal with the constant whistle blowing of the life guard on duty above him. It seemed like every other minute or so he would startle Roxas, rudely pulling him out of his thoughts and back into reality.

"Damn it you kids! No splashing in the pull area! I won't tell you again!"

Roxas sighed, he was about ready to get up and head back to his room, when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He turned, and was startled to see the blond girl from the night before. She stared intently at Roxas, fixing him with her sad gaze from across the pool. No one else seemed to notice this, except for himself.

"No freaking way…"

He slowly stood up, about ready to run, when he suddenly collided into someone and fell head first into the pool.

Roxas kept his eyes shut, slowly falling and colliding with the bottom of the pool. He turned, then slowly began to swim up, only to find that he could not reach the surface.

_What the hell…_

He continued to kick, to push like any normal swimmer would, but no closer was he to reaching the surface. Panic began to seep into him, and the more he tried for the top, the quicker his air seemed to escape him.

_Oh crap! What the hell is going on?_

On he swam, his feet slowly being dragged down by something he couldn't see.

_Why isn't anyone helping me?_

He reached his hand out, so close was he to the surface, but darkness began to seep into his vision instead.

_No! I'm going to die…aren't I?_

His hand grazed the crystal clear top, forming more ripples and distorting the world outside. Air quickly left his lungs, then darkness completely took over.

The last thing he saw before he went under was the girl, her figure slightly distorted by the water above, but ever present and clear in Roxas' eyes.

* * *

_**And there you go! Hope you all liked! Please do review and tell me what you think! I appreciate comments very much from those that have enjoyed the reading thus far!**_

_**Lots of love,**_

_**-NightRaven13**_


	6. Strange Visions

_**Hi everyone!**_

_**New chapter here! Please read on and enjoy it! Also…if you could so kindly leave a review? I appreciate all the comments and faves that I have received since I first posted this work up, and I hope to continue receiving them from all you kind readers! Thanks very much for your support!**_

_**Now read on!**_

_**-NightRaven13**_

_**DISCLAIMER: While I wish it were possible, I own none of the characters associated or belonging to Square Enix!**_

* * *

**_Previously, in the last chapter..._**

His hand grazed the crystal clear top, forming more ripples and distorting the world outside. Air quickly left his lungs, then darkness completely took over.

The last thing he saw before he went under was the girl, her figure slightly distorted by the water above, but ever present and clear in Roxas' eyes.

* * *

He stood near the edge, hands dangling over the rail and mind deep in thought.

The ocean view was very pleasant today, and the setting sun only helped to better heighten that pleasant beauty. Various pink, purple, and blue hues colored the curious clouds as well as the ocean, while tiny stars began to dot the sky, warning of the approaching twilight hour. The ocean current moved serenely below him, with the only real disturbance to the water coming from the ship itself.

In other words, all was pleasantly placid around him.

While that might have been the case for his current environment, the confines of his mind were a whole different story. As peaceful as everything around him was, his mind was a troubled realm all on its own. Normally, he would go to his most trusted friends when problems such as these arouse, but even they were proving to be the foremost authorities in issues pertaining to lack of trust recently.

He sighed, the best he could do was simply stare. Stare out into the ocean and hope for some sort of an epiphany to hit him, or a seagull…whichever came first.

"A penny for your thoughts sir?"

He frowned, despite all his attempts to escape the ever watchful eyes of his traveling companions (as well as his traveling associates) someone had found him.

_This ship is ridiculous in size! How the hell does everyone manage to find me all the time?_

"Go away…"

The sound of shifting feet could clearly be heard behind him, but not once did he bother to turn.

"I said go away…"

The shifting continued, and then they clearly stood next to him. He could feel their body, whoever it was, lightly brush against his own as they stood next to him.

"For the final time…go away!"

He turned, startled to be met with the eyes of the person he last expected to see.

"You!" he said almost accusingly, "What are you doing here? How did you -"

They placed one slender finger against his lips, silencing the question instantly and completely.

"That's none of your concern…I wanted to see you, isn't that enough of a reason?"

"But…what if someone sees you? What then?"

A small smile began to form on the other person's lips, sending a small shiver down his own back for some odd reason.

"Then I'll run. Simple as that."

"Run where? This is the first class deck! You'll need to either find some stairs fast or jump…and I strongly object to you jumping off anything here!"

A laugh escaped the other person at his suggestion, light yet musical. He couldn't help but smile along as well, as the whole situation seemed quite absurd once he really thought about it.

"We can't keep doing this…I…I don't think I can see you anymore."

There, he had said it. The words he had feared to speak for so long were finally out in the open, it was much more painful that he had originally thought it would be. He couldn't even bring himself to look them in the eye after the words were spoken.

"Is…is this what you want?"

He clenched his fist, he couldn't bring himself to lie either.

"No."

"Then…then why?"

He brought his gaze up to their own, sincerity gracing every tone in his voice.

"Because I don't want to see you get hurt."

A frown formed on their face at that moment, the threat clearly went misunderstood.

"What are you talking abo-"

He placed a hand against their month, silencing them instantly. Someone was coming, he could clearly hear their footsteps against the wood as they approached his present location. He turned back to the small individual before him, panic quickly entering their eyes.

"Someone's coming! You have to leave! Now!"

He led them away from the railing, pulling them over to the closest balcony that overlooked the second class deck.

"You have to climb down! Quickly!"

"Are you insane? I can't climb all that way down! I'll fall!"

"Don't worry I'll help you! Now hurry! Go!"

He helped them over, holding tight to their hand as they slowly climbed down the railing and down towards the second class deck. He watched as they carefully made their down, but couldn't anticipate what happened next.

Their footing slipped, and their balanced was lost. All that held them back from falling was his hand tightly wrapped around theirs.

"I'm going to fall! Help me! Help me please! Don't let me fall!"

He held on as much as he could, but his grip was slowly slipping from their own.

"Don't let me fall! Please!"

He pulled, pulled as hard as he could.

"Help me! Help me…."

"I'm trying!"

"Don't let me fall _Roxas_…"

He blinked, his pulling suddenly became less urgent.

"What…what did you call me?"

"Help me _Roxas_…"

His grip slowly loosened, their hand began to slip from his own. Frighten blue eyes stared back as his hand completely lost their hold on them. All began to slow down around him as he watched the other person fall, fall slowly to their most assured death. Not a scream was heard, not a sound was uttered, all that rang in his ears was their last desperate whisper for help.

"Help me _Roxas_…"

He blinked again, all sense completely gone.

_None of this is real….it's all just a nightmare…_

Frighten blue eyes continued to stare as they slowly fell, and all he could do was watch.

_It's not real…it never was…_

"Rox…"

_Then why won't it stop?_

"…as"

_And why…._

"Roxas…"

_Does it feel familiar?_

"Roxas! Please wake up man! Open up your eyes! Please!"

* * *

"Wake up man!"

He groaned, why he felt completely tired was beyond his realm of understanding. The darkness surrounded him in the most peaceful of ways, and it seem much more relaxing than whatever kept insisting that he was asleep.

"Please Roxas! Wake the hell up man!"

He tried to move his arm, to punch at whatever kept disturbing him, but found that he couldn't even move. He slowly began to realize that several other things were amiss.

First off, why couldn't he move? Second, why was everything so oddly cold and dark? And thirdly, why did he feel like he was completely drenched from head to foot?

"Roxas! Wake up man!"

He groaned again, they sure were insistent!

"Is he breathing?"

"I don't know! Someone do some CPR on the kid! Quick!"

Shuffling could be clearly heard against the darkness, then something soft and full began to press against his mouth. It felt most pleasant to him, until they started to force air down his mouth. He pushed and pulled, trying to get away from whatever it was. Before he knew it, he was coughing out a rush of water he had no clue had been in him.

"Easy there! Turn to your side so you don't choke to death."

He felt hands lightly tilt him onto his side, slowly rubbing his back and muttering calming words as he coughed out what remained of the highly chlorinated water.

"You ok now? You had your friend worried."

Roxas turned back onto his back slowly, only then did he fully open his eyes.

"Heh…I'll take that as a yes?"

He blinked, surprised to see a pair of vibrant blue eyes staring back at him.

"So are you ok now?"

Roxas nodded slowly, taking in every detail of the individual in front of him. Their vibrant blue eyes glowed with such kindness in them, it was hard to believe. Dark red hair framed their face in layers until they stopped somewhere around their shoulders, making their pale skin glow with even more intensity than normal.

Whoever this person was, they sure as hell were beautiful.

"Maybe you should head down to the First Aid center, just to make sure you're ok."

He nodded, "Yeah…maybe you're right…"

Suddenly, Axel's face swam into his view along with the pale stranger.

"Oh man Roxas! You're ok! I was freggin' worried about you! How the hell could you just jump into the pool like that and not know how to swim! You could've drowned you stupid prick! Don't scare me like that again!"

Roxas groaned, so that's who was pestering him!

"I'm…I'm ok now…"

The stranger pushed Axel out of Roxas' line of vision, then slowly helped him up onto a sitting position. His vision began to swim a little at his sudden motion, but was quickly steadied by the stranger who was kneeling next to him.

"Hey! Steady there! You took a lung full of water while you were down there."

He nodded, careful to remain steady until the wave of dizziness passed.

"Thanks…for helping me…"

The stranger nodded, dark red hair moving along with their head.

"No problem, my name's kairi by the way…nice to meet you."

Roxas managed a small smile, "You always introduce yourself to people like this?"

Kairi blinked, "Like how?"

"With the person passed out like a drunk and coughing up water like there's no tomorrow?"

Kairi smiled, "No…not usually."

Both teens laughed, Axel merely sat staring at them like if they had completely lost their minds.

"Alright! Nothing to see here! All passengers return to your normal vacation activities!"

The three teens turned, startled out of their moment as the small crowd that had formed was quickly being dispersed by another adolescent wearing blue swim trunks. He shooed them away like sheep, then turned back his attention to the others still seated on the deck floor.

"Alright little guy, it's off to the First Aid station with you."

Kairi frowned, "That's what I kept telling you to do after you pulled him out of the pool! And what kind of lifeguard doesn't know CPR? Just who the hell hired you?"

The lifeguard ran and placed his hands over Kairi's mouth, trying desperately to shut her up.

"Please! Keep quiet or the boss might hear! I don't want him finding out that I lied on my job application! My sister will kill me if she finds out I got fired from this gig!"

Kairi frowned angrily, but nodded her consent shortly after. The young lifeguard let out a sigh of relief, apparently having held his breath the entire time that he had held Kairi's mouth captive.

"Fine…I won't say anything, but you better learn soon if you want to keep your job! I won't make any promises if this happens again…you're on your own on that one!"

The lifeguard nodded happily, shaking Kairi's hand in gratitude.

"Thank you so much! You are a lifesaver!"

Kairi frowned again, "Isn't that suppose to be your job?"

He nodded, then walked over and pulled Roxas up off the floor, "Ok! Got it! Now let's take you down to the FAS and get you checked out!"

Roxas groaned, the dizziness suddenly began to return. Axel noticed this and grabbed him from the other side to better support him.

"Easy there Roxy! Let's not wig out just yet!"

He nodded, then let Axel and the lifeguard take him off to parts unknown. Kairi merely smiled as the three walked away.

"Nice meeting you Roxas! Hope I see you around!"

He waved weakly as they pulled him away, but smiled nonetheless at the jester. Axel saw this, and merely smirked in response.

"Heh…lucky bastard…you don't even have to try and you get chicks kissing you on the first go!"

Roxas frowned, "What the hell are you talking about?"

He smiled, that wolfish grin quickly returning to his face, "After you fell in, idiot here pulled you out." He jerked his free thumb in the lifeguard's direction, "Then he began to freak out cause' he doesn't know how to perform CPR. That's when that Kairi chick pushed out of the crowd that was around us and volunteered her help without a second thought."

Roxas blinked, "Really? She did that?"

Axel nodded, "Yup, felt your pulse and everything. I thought she was just gonna work your chest over or something, but then next thing I know she's planting her lips all over yours like she's frenching you or something!"

For some odd reason, Roxas could quickly feel himself blushing.

"Really?"

Axel nodded, "Why would I lie?"

The otherwise quiet lifeguard nodded his agreement as well, "Mhm…he's not kidding you man. For a minute I thought she was your girlfriend or something."

"Girlfriend!?" Roxas shouted, his voice slightly higher pitched than normal.

Both Axel and the lifeguard laughed. Roxas simply reddened in the face a few shades more.

"Chill man, we know she isn't…but a guy can dream right? Besides…when a girl steps forward to save your stupid ass that's gotta mean something!"

Roxas frowned, "Yeah…whatever…"

The lifeguard smiled, "Yup…if you ask me…she was quite the looker! And she saved your life…I mean…she didn't pull you out like I did! But she was a real fast thinker! I mean, if she hadn't yelled for help when she saw you go in….who knows what would've happened!"

Roxas couldn't help but deepen his frown, this lifeguard really was a little dense!

"Oh! By the way!" The lifeguard leaned in close, until his mouth was around his ear level, "Sorry about accidentally pushing you in…I had no idea that you were even near me when I turned!"

Roxas turned, eyes bulging and face raging, "YOU DID WHAT?!"

* * *

_**Lol……well there you have it everyone! Hope you enjoyed! Please do be kind and leave a review behind on your way out! It will be greatly appreciated if you do! Also, I apologize for the shortness of the chapter!**_

_**-NightRaven13**_


	7. Visions Once More

_**NightRaven13 Here again!**_

_**Sorry for the update lack everyone! Here's a new chapter! Hope you like!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Own nothing…so stop asking me about that!**_

* * *

_**In our last chapter…**_

Roxas couldn't help but deepen his frown, this lifeguard really was a little dense!

"Oh! By the way!" The lifeguard leaned in close, until his mouth was around his ear level, "Sorry about accidentally pushing you in…I had no idea that you were even near me when I turned!"

Roxas turned, eyes bulging and face raging, "YOU DID WHAT?!"

* * *

Roxas now sat peacefully in his room, watching as the sun began to set from his window.

He sighed, letting his body relax around him. After Axel and the lifeguard (who later introduced himself as Demyx) took him over to the FAS (or the First Aid Station, as the acronym later revealed itself to be) the doctor on call began to examine him. After about an hour or so, Roxas had been cleared and released, but not without strict orders that he take the night off and rest for the remainder of the day. Roxas had found the order a bit extreme, even absurd, but nodded his agreement after Axel had threaten him with an "induced coma" of his own if he didn't do as he was told.

"You were under water for a rather lengthy amount of time." The doctor had stated, "Its best that you get some rest. All your test results seem fine, but for some odd reason you seem to be combating an odd bout of fatigue…am I correct?"

Roxas had slowly nodded his response, how the doctor could figure out so much with so little amount of information was beyond him.

"Just get some rest, you'll be fine in the morning."

And so here was Roxas, just a few hours (and a forced lunch by Axel, compliments of Marley) later, sitting in his room bored beyond belief. He sighed once again, staring intently at the ceiling for what seemed like the tenth time in the last half hour.

Just then, a small knock was heard against the door that interconnected with Axel's room.

"Come in!" was Roxas' response, "I know it's you Axel."

Right on cue, Axel poked his head around the door, giving a small two finger wave. He shut the door and walked over to Roxas, hands in his pockets and uniform shirt not quite button up all the way.

"Well, I'm headed down to work…you going to be ok?"

Roxas frowned, "You're going to work already? But it's not even 5:30 yet."

Axel smiled, "Yeah, I know…but I promised Marley I'd help him out in the kitchen. One of his assistants is out with the cold, so he needs someone to help him out with preparing the food before dinner."

"Oh…well have fun then."

"You sure you're going to be ok?"

Roxas sighed again, he hated how Axel kept fretting over him since the pool incident. It was like he was a child, and Axel was being the overprotective adult.

"For the last time dude…I'll be fine. Now go to work before you get fired."

Axel managed a small smile, then began to head out. "Don't worry about freaky Saix, if he comes around Marley agreed to give him the news of your slightly unfortunate accident."

Roxas laughed, "Ok…I'm sure Larxene will be thrilled."

Axel let out a chuckle as he walked out the door, "Nah…more like disappointed that you didn't die."

He shut the door, the only sound being that of Axel's footsteps as he walked down the hall and on to the next floor. Roxas sat alone again, the only company being that of the occasional seagull flying around outside or the occasional crew member walking down the hallway.

Roxas sighed, it was going to be a long, boring evening.

* * *

He sat on his bed, there was a reason why solitaire never appealed to him.

He picked up the mess of cards off of the bed sheets, then began shuffling them up for what seemed like the twentieth time that evening. Being forced to bed was losing its appeal more and more by the hour, so much so to the point that he was ready and willing to deal with Larxene's death stares if it meant doing something proactive.

"This is ridiculous…"

He shuffled the deck one more time, then tossed it back out of pure frustration. There had to be something he could do to kill some time!

The room was completely silent, saved for the sound of the clock perched against the wall above one of his dressers. Its consistent _tic tic tic tic_ was about ready to drive him insane…

"I need to get out of here!"

He got out of bed, grabbed his shoes and his sweater, and then quietly made his way out of his room.

"Sorry Axel, but a guy can only be amused for so long…"

* * *

The ship seemed more beautiful at dusk then it did at any other point in the day.

The sun was slowly making its retreat behind the horizon, while the glittering lights of the ship took its place. Roxas was having a pleasant time just walking down the length of the ship's various decks, watching as people dressed in their finer clothes go down for dinner.

He made his way slowly down the upper most deck, careful to avoid the Sunset Lounge at all possible costs. The last thing he needed was Axel putting him down in that "induced coma" he had promised if he caught him out of bed.

He smiled as he watched several couples head in the direction of the Lounge, all smiling and laughing as they went. Something about the whole situation made Roxas smile for a moment, before a small frown began to settle in. He was suddenly reminded of why he was there in the first place.

"Olette…I bet you're having a great time too…"

The frown deepened slightly for just a moment, when suddenly his pessimistic thoughts were interrupted.

"Hey there! I see you're feeling better!"

Roxas turned, surprised to be met by the sight of a very finely dressed kairi starring back at him. Her dark red hair was pulled back from her face in a very stylish bun, save for a few flecks of hair poking out strategically from the front. As for her clothes, the swimsuit ensemble she had been wearing earlier was now replaced by a babydoll styled dress in a very light pink shade.

Roxas couldn't help but stare.

"Gee…you sure seem happy today…care to share why you have a frown so firmly planted on your face?"

Roxas blinked, he had forgotten that he could talk for a moment.

"Uh…yeah…no….no reason…"

Kairi laughed, "Heh…you sure are articulate aren't you?"

Roxas nodded, "Sorry…I'm just trying to stay out of sight from Axel. Doctor said I should be in bed, and Axel was all too quick to agree."

"Hmm…then if that's the case why are you out here?"

Now it was Roxas' turn to smile.

"Can't stand being in my room…I lose interest really fast….it's like I got ADD or something…"

Kairi laughed, a musical note accompanied by a smile.

"Well…aren't you a rebel! I'm heading down to the Lounge with some friends…care to join?"

Roxas smiled for a moment, before realizing just where kairi was inviting him to go.

"Sorry…if Axel sees me there he'll kill me…maybe some other time?"

Kairi nodded, "Ok…maybe you can join us at one of the dance clubs later? I'm sure my friends and I can keep you out of sight of Axel there."

Roxas thought for a moment, the idea was highly unlikely. Axel hung out at the clubs on board on a nightly basis, patrolling the various locations like a cop on duty.

"Um…sure…maybe I can…"

Kairi smiled, "Great! See you around then!"

She waved, then made her way in the direction of all the other couples and groups, disappearing into the crowd like a ghost.

Something about that made him a bit uneasy.

"Heh…she's still hot though…"

* * *

He had been walking around for what seemed like an hour.

The decks on this particular side of the ship were devoid of people, except for the occasional crew member walking by. Roxas was about ready to head back when one dire realization hit him.

He had no clue where he was.

"Damn…how the hell am I suppose to get back? I should've been paying more attention!"

He kicked a nearby pipe out of pure frustration with himself, hurting his foot in the process.

"Shit!"

He leaned against the wall, slamming his fist against it in order to delude the pain. The whole scene would've seemed comical if there had been anyone there to witness it.

"I need to get back before Axel notices I'm gone!"

He turned to his right, noticing that he had not gone in that direction just yet. Maybe there was a group of stairs or an elevator that could take him down to at least the second floor?

He walked, careful to remember where he was right now in order to avoid returning later. As he did so, the deck became noticeably darker, and only a few lights kept his path visible as he got closer.

When he finally reached the end of the deck and neared the railing, he couldn't help but look out and over into the ocean.

"Well…no way down from here…"

He turned back, only to be met by a very odd thought.

_He led them away from the railing, pulling them over to the closest balcony that overlooked the second class deck._

_"You have to climb down! Quickly!"_

_"Are you insane? I can't climb all that way down! I'll fall!"_

_"Don't worry I'll help you! Now hurry! Go!"_

He blinked, the thought vanishing just as quickly as it had crossed his mind.

"What the hell?"

He shook his head slightly, and then continued to walk when another vision hit him.

_He helped them over, holding tight to their hand as they slowly climbed down the railing and down towards the second class deck. He watched as they carefully climbed down, but couldn't anticipate what happened next._

_Their footing slipped, and their balanced was lost. All that held them back from falling was his hand tightly wrapped around theirs._

_"I'm going to fall! Help me! Help me please! Don't let me fall!"_

Roxas held his head, the thoughts kept flashing in and out of his eyes in dizzying intervals, giving him a splitting headache.

"What's….what's going on?"

He fell to his knees, the thoughts making him want to cry out in pain. He kept his hands clutched to his head, trying his hardest to keep it from splitting open like it threatened to do with each passing second.

"What…the hell…is…happening…to me?"

_A penny for your thoughts, sir?_

A painful cry finally escaped his lips, sending him down into a realm of troubled darkness.

* * *

_**Well….hope you liked! Sorry if it's too short! Next one will be longer and better! Promise! Review if you can….reviews would be awesome!**_

_**-NightRaven13**_


	8. Nightmare

_**Hey everyone!**_

_**Sorry for the lack of updates! Here's a lengthy chapter to make up for it! Hope you enjoy!**_

**_Special thanks go out to SoraxKairi7...you rock girl! Love your stories...and thanks for all the reviews!!! ^-^_**

_**-NightRaven13 (=^.^=)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing…so there….**_

* * *

He fell to his knees, the thoughts making him want to cry out in pain. He kept his hands clutched to his head, trying his hardest to keep it from splitting open like it threatened to do with each passing second.

"What…the hell…is…happening…to me?"

_A penny for your thoughts, sir?_

A painful cry finally escaped his lips, sending him down into a realm of troubled darkness.

* * *

Somewhere in the distance, the ocean could be heard.

The waves crashed, and a chill permeated the air carrying with it the ever familiar scent of salt and ocean life.

A pale, slender hand reached out from the darkness and gently touched the shoulder of a young man passed out on the deck of a ship. He stirred ever slightly, groaning in pain as he did so.

_Wake up…_

Roxas stirred, he could feel a light touch against his shoulder.

"Who are you? What's…going on?"

_Go away…_

Roxas tried to open his eyes, but the splitting headache he felt kept him back. He brought his hands close to his face, feeling around for whoever it was that was talking to him, but felt only the hard cold wood of the floor around him instead.

"Who…are you?" he managed to whisper.

The gentle touch returned, lightly pressing his lips to keep him from saying more.

_Leave this place…leave while you can…._

The gentle yet cold touch left him then, permitting him the chance to ask the question he had been meaning to ask.

"Why?"

_You know why…leave now…_

The cold suddenly left, the atmosphere slowly returning back to how it felt before. A gentle breeze stirred Roxas some more, enough to coax him into attempting to open his eyes again. His clear blue eyes cracked open, and a question escaped his lips as they did so.

"Who are you?"

His breath came out in a cloud of warm fog, giving a clear indicator of how much the temperature had changed. He slowly sat up from where he was, searching around him for the owner of the voice that had been speaking to him.

Not a soul could be seen as far as Roxas could tell.

"You! What are you doing here?"

Roxas turned, but was grabbed by a rough hand before he could see. He struggled to get away, but the rough hand pulled him off of the floor with such unnatural strength that it was almost impossible to fight back.

"Let me go! Get away from me!"

The hand pulled him towards a bench near a far wall, then proceeded to drop him there. It was only then that Roxas could clearly make out who the owner of the hand was.

Right away, he greatly regretted it.

"You! You're the boy from the Lounge! Just what are you doing up here?"

It was the creepy man from earlier in the morning, his dark red eyes starring him down with such a horrid fury. Roxas couldn't help but gulp, ready to run when given the chance.

"I…um…I was…"

"You were trespassing…no doubt! I should call your supervisor for this!"

Roxas shook his head, panic quickly flooding into his system. The last thing he needed was Saix on his case for ditching work over exaggerated injuries.

"Please sir…don't call him up! He'll fire me if he finds out I'm not at work!"

The elder man stared him down, making Roxas quite uncomfortable. He stood starring at him for what seemed like an eternity, until finally he spoke.

"What happened to your head?"

Roxas blinked, obviously confused by the question.

"My…head?"

The elder man frowned, "Yes! Your head boy! Are you dense or do you have some sort of a concussion?"

Roxas blinked once more, then pulled his hand up to touch his forehead. When he pulled it back down, he was surprised to find blood coating his fingers.

"Perhaps you should have that looked at. Come with me."

The elder man grabbed hold of Roxas' free arm, then pulled him down the opposite direction. Roxas was still too surprised by everything to fight back.

"Where…where are you taking me?"

"My room."

Roxas' heart began to beat faster. He needed to get away from this man quickly! As if sensing his panic, the elder spoke.

"I have a first aid kit in my room for emergencies, along with several of my other medical supplies. I highly doubt you want to go down to the FAS right now and risk having your supervisor find out you were not at work."

Roxas nodded, then completely stopped protesting all together.

* * *

"Now hold still, let me take a look at that."

Roxas tilted his forehead in the elder man's direction, staying as still as he could possibly manage. The elder man's stateroom was quite cozy, luxurious even, and much better than what the crew members slept in. The man was obviously someone who had money, who could afford a first class stateroom without a problem.

"Hmm…looks like a simple bump and a scratch. Nothing too deep…I could patch you up if you like."

Roxas nodded his response, "Are you a doctor or something?"

The elder man chuckled, then proceeded to retrieve what was clearly an antique medical bag from a bottom cabinet near his bed.

"Well…I use to be a surgeon in my younger days…" he pulled the bag up and settled it next to where Roxas was sitting, "But now I only specialize in general medicine."

Roxas blinked, "So you are a doctor then?"

The man laughed, "Yes…Doctor Ansem Wise…at your service."

He held his hand out, and Roxas slowly brought his own up to shake it.

"My name's Roxas…thanks…for helping me out I mean."

Ansem smiled, " No need to thank me young man…just promise to stay out of trouble from now on."

He pulled out several pieces of gauze, a bottle of what was clearly rubbing alcohol, and an oversized patch which later turned out to be a bandage.

"Now…just hold still for a moment…this might sting a little."

Roxas couldn't help but flinch, "I'll try…"

Ansem nodded, then busied himself with disinfecting the wound near his scalp. The alcohol stung deeply at his head for a few seconds, mingling with the pain his headache brought on. After a few minutes of gentle rubbing, Ansem finally dried the wound and proceeded to bandage it.

"Now….do you mind telling me what you were doing up near the captain's quarters all alone by yourself?"

Roxas nodded, "I'll be honest with you sir, I have no idea. I sort of got lost while wandering around and trying to avoid running into anyone from work."

Ansem laughed, "Well….I do hope for your sake you succeeded."

Roxas couldn't help but laugh too, "Yeah…I hope so too."

"What I can't seem to understand is how did you come to get such an injury in your head like that? Did you get into some sort of a scuffle or something of the like?"

Roxas shook his head. _I wish! At least then I could explain what happened!_

"No…I just sort of fell…I think I must've tripped on the wood or something."

Ansem nodded, his red eyes resting firmly against the bandage now placed on his forehead.

"Yes…these decks do tend to be quite slippery, especially for an old timer such as myself. You should be more careful next time."

Roxas nodded, "Yes…yes sir…"

Ansem smiled, "Well…you seemed to be just fine. I suggest you head back down to your quarters and rest, and if you feel a headache coming on do not hesitate to go down to the FAS. I doubt you are suffering from a concussion, but just in case do be careful."

Ansem walked over and pulled open his door, giving Roxas the indication that it was ok for him to leave.

"Thank you sir…for your help…I really do appreciate it."

Roxas walked out the door and into the hallway, giving a quick wave and turning the corner as fast as he could. As soon as he was out of Ansem's sight, he took off into a dead run down the hallway and back towards the crew's quarters.

* * *

As soon as he hit his own floor, he finally allowed himself the luxury of slowing down.

He pulled out his card key, quickly sliding it against the slot and shutting the door behind him. As soon as he was settled in, he walked over to Axel's door and gave it a light knock.

"Axel…you in there?"

Nothing. All remained silent from the other side.

Roxas sighed, finally releasing the breath he had unknowingly held in all this time. He wearily returned to his bed, letting himself fall between the sheets in an exhausted heap.

"Man…that was close…"

He touched his hand against his head, feeling the bulky bandage against his fingers. He was going to have one hell of a time explaining that to Axel.

"Argh…this is going to suck major…"

He laid his head against his pillow, finally entering into a more restful position. The sheets felt unusually soft against his back, but he was more than happy to accept them the way they were settled at that moment.

Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

* * *

It was a rather odd noise that awoke him several hours later.

It was muffled at first, almost as if whoever was speaking was speaking behind several layers of concrete and wood. Roxas ignored it at first, turning over onto his side in order to return back into his peaceful slumber.

But it was what followed that forced him back up.

"Please…please listen to me!"

"Go away! I hate you!"

"Wait! No! Come back!"

Loud footsteps sounded, followed by what Roxas was certain was a slap.

"I hate you! How could I have been so stupid? So blind?"

More footsteps. Loud at first, then slowly they receded into the back ground. Whoever had been yelling before had clearly gone off in the opposite direction.

"Come back!"

Roxas cringed, his headache was being insistent and all the yelling out in the hall was not helping out the situation. He sat up, slipped on his shoes, and walked over to the door with a mouthful of insults ready to fire at will.

He grabbed the handle, pulling the door open with a determined fury in his eyes.

"Can you keep it down out here! Some of us would like to sleep you inconsiderate ass-"

He blinked, the hall was empty.

"Where'd everybody go?"

He stepped out into the hallway lightly, the only sound being that of distant laughing and music from the floor above him.

"Ok…what was that about?"

After a quick glance in both directions, Roxas turned slowly back around and began heading back to bed, eyes already beginning to droop in response to his movements. A small yawn escaped him then, quickly interrupted by another sound nearby.

_Help me…_

Roxas jumped, his heart beating at a mile a minute as his back came to collide with the wall behind him.

"OK…." He whispered, knowing full well no one was listening. "Who the hell was that?!"

He stared intently, peering in both directions of the hallway for what seemed like an eternity. Not a soul was seen, not a voice was heard. As far as Roxas could deduct, the voice he had heard was nothing more than an exaggeration produced in his sleep induced mind, which in turn proved Axel's previous deductions that he was going slightly mental.

Roxas sighed, annoyed with himself for getting spooked over nothing, "This is fucking ridiculous…"

_Help me…help me please!_

He stopped, turning back slowly towards the voice emanating clearly from the other end of the hallway.

"Who's there?"

_Help me…_

Roxas stared, eyes peering intently into the darkness of the corridor. Someone or something was clearly there, he was certain of it. He could just make out their silhouette against what little light shone in that general direction, their figure slender and delicate.

_Help…_

He walked slowly, following the figure despite all instinct screaming at him to go back, to return to the safety of his room and stay put.

Into the darkness he went, following the figure close behind.

* * *

Axel sighed, he had to stop letting people take advantage of him like this.

"Hey Ax! Once you're done with that don't forget to pick up the dishes from table six!"

Axel groaned. Would this night ever end?

He tossed the remainder of his dishes into the sink, earning him a glare from the young man who had been forced to pick up Roxas' shift for the night. Axel merely shrugged in response, giving a clear indicator that he could care less what the newbie thought about the whole situation.

"Hey man, I'm just doing my job! Don't get pissed off at me that you can't clear dishes from the sink fast enough to save your life."

The young man continued to glare, then flipped him off and continued with his work. Axel simply walked away and headed back into the dining area.

"God, I hate this job more and more by the second."

He sauntered over to table six, grabbing any leftover plates in the empty tables along the way. The Sunset Lounge was nearly cleared out of people at this point, but there were still plenty of cleaning left to do before he could leave for the night.

"Hmm….looks like you still have plenty to do before you can bail. Need some help?"

Axel turned, surprised to be met by a smirk on Larxene's face.

"What? You're done already?"

Larxene nodded, picking up a plate and tossing it into the bin as she walked by."Yeah…where's your idiot buddy to help you out?"

Axel smirked, "Roxas, as you so lovingly referred to him, is out for the night."

"Really? How'd he manage that? Saix isn't quick to give anyone the night off, especially when they've just started working on board."

Axel picked up the last of the plates, quickly shoving them into the bin and heading off towards the kitchen.

"He, uh, got a little sick and was forced to stay in bed by the doc down in FAS."

Larxene smiled, "Lucky little asshole."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

Axel walked in, tossed the remainder of the dishes into the sink, then waved goodbye to Marley in the back kitchen.  
"I'm done for the night dude! See you tomorrow!"

Marley waved back in response, not bothering to turn away once from the clipboard in his hand to look up at Axel. Axel merely sighed and grabbed his jacket as he made his way out of the kitchen, pulling out his hidden pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket as he did so. Larxene, meanwhile, was waiting patiently on a bar stool outside, playing around with a lighter he had no idea she had been carrying.

"You smoke?"

Larxene smiled, "Not really."

"Then why the lighter?"

She smirked, her eyes deeply entranced by the flame in front of her, "I like fire…do I need a reason for carrying it in my pocket?"

Axel laughed, "You are one weird chick, but whatever floats your boat hun."

He made a grab for her lighter then, catching it expertly in his hand before Larxene could reach back for it.

"Hey!"

"Hey what? You don't smoke, but I on occasion like a drag here and there…and today happens to be one of those occasions."

Larxene glared, watching as Axel lit up his cigarette all the while. The minute he let the lid snap back shut, Larxene took the chance and snatched it back away from him.

"Heh…you mad now hun?"

"No" she glared.

Axel laughed, "Come on now, how's about we get out of here and head down to the club on the other side?"

Larxene stared, for once caught off guard and without a smart wise crack to respond back with. Was he asking her out?

Axel smiled, he finally had her silent…for once.

"Uh…um…" at this, Larxene couldn't help but mentally slap herself across the face, clearly annoyed with herself beyond belief at the moment. "Yeah…yeah sure….why not…"

Axel laughed, "Ok…let's head out then!"

They turned, about to make their way out of the lounge, when Larxene noticed something slightly amiss. Out on the deck, with a slight drizzle of rain beginning to fall at an annoying rate, was none other than Roxas himself, running by at what seemed like at an urgent speed.

"Axel, didn't you say Roxas was M.I.A tonight?"

Axel took a drag of his cigarette, too content to even notice Roxas run by.

"Yeah…your point?"

"Well, isn't that him over there?"

Axel turned, the smile that had been planted across his face was quickly replaced with a frown, cigarette now hanging limp from the corner of his mouth.

"What the hell is he doing out here? And where the hell is he going? It's like two in the fucking morning and this kid should be in bed!"

Axel groaned, and then ran after him at full speed. Larxene could do no more than follow him.

"Well…so much for the club…"

* * *

He ran, following her close behind.

"Wait!"

Despite his desperate pleas, she would not look back, let alone stop or slow down. She was clearly upset and anything he said or did was not going to stop her.

"Please wait! Let me explain!"

He continued to run, turned the corner a little too fast, and slipped head first into the slick wooden floor that made up the upper deck of the ship. He raised his head slowly, shaking away the slight dizziness that accompanied the fall as he did so.

_Get a hold of yourself! Now is not the time to look like a fool, _he thought to himself.

"Where are you?!" he cried out to the darkness and distorted vision before him.

He stood up slowly, grabbing hold of a nearby wall for support as he let the wave of dizziness the collision against the floor had caused pass. The floor seemed to shift to the side before him, but he walked on anyway, searching all the while for any sign of her.

"Please…please talk to me…tell me where you are..."

"Help!" was the response he got from her instead.

Despite his condition, he shifted off into a dead run down the walkway and into the darkness ahead of him, stopping only once he reached the end of the path. There was no sign of her, or of anyone else for that matter.

_Where are you?_

"Stay away…"

He turned around slowly, only then noticing the shape of a figure not too far away from him.

"You…it's you isn't? What have you done with her? Show yourself you bloody coward!"

The figure laughed, only then finally stepping out into the light and presenting to him the captive he held against his chest.

It was _her_.

"Let her go!"

The figure laughed, bringing up his left arm and pointing the gun he had been concealing right at him.

"I will do no such thing!"

She struggled against the figure, frightened eyes pleading to him to remain still. The figure noticed this, and brought the gun to her temple instead, holding her closer and laughing harder all the while.

"No! Let her go!"

"Or else what? I clearly have all the cards dealt in my favor…why deal out now?"

She blinked then, fighting back the surge of tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. She continued to plea silently to him despite the tears, a scream for help clearly resonating within her eyes.

"I'll ask you again, let her go!"

A smile broke against the figure's face, laughter dancing around his eyes.

"Never…"

He shifted the gun, then lightly pulled against the trigger.

"No!"

He ran forward towards her then, at the same moment she managed to pull away and collide against his waiting embrace. All seemed to slow down then, but he was more than certain of her fate the moment she collided with him and began to slip down towards the floor.

_No…no! No! No! Please don't do this to me!_

"NO!"

She held tightly to him then, a small smile forming against her soft lips as she open her mouth to speak one last time.

"I…forgive you…"

He stared, tears escaping his own eyes as a sob found its way out of his throat and into the silent night around him.

"No…no please…please wake up!"

A dark figure loomed above him just then, angry tear stained eyes could do nothing more but turn and stare right back at him.

"I warned you once boy…now death to you both!"

He held on to her tightly, praying with every last breath that his death would come soon and that no pain would follow the sound. He held his breath and shut his eyes, a distant ringing in his ears quickly accompanied his actions. Only it wasn't a ringing noise he was hearing, it was a scream. A high pitched scream and the sound of a singular shot fired are what reached his ears before everything went black and still.

Black and still, like the night.

The last sensation he recalled before all reason left him was falling. Falling at a swift speed…never reaching the bottom…

Falling silently…

With her…

* * *

"ROXAS! YOU FUCKING DOLT! GET THE FUCK OFF OF THERE!"

Roxas shook his head. Something was off, completely off.

"Roxas! Roxas get down!"

Ok, _completely_ off was an understatement. Especially if the last voice he heard was none other than Larxene the mean queen herself, and was that _concern_ lacing her voice? Concern for_ him_?

"Roxas! I'm going to fucking KILL YOU if you don't die first!"

_Is that Axel? What the hell is he talking about?! Why is everyone yelling?!_

Roxas shook his head, a deep pounding resonating somewhere near his temples. He slowly urged his eyes to open and function correctly, reading himself for the moment when he would have to pull away from bed and smack the living day light out of Axel for being so loud.

Only, he wasn't in bed at all.

"Roxas, for the last freaking time man! Get the fuck off of there!"

He stared, dark ocean water greeting his sight below him.

"Roxas!" Larxene yelled up to him, clearly frightened out of character. "Please! You are starting to freak Axel out you idiot!"

He stared, petrified beyond belief and with no clue as to where he was or how he got there. All he could register was the dark ocean water churning below him, eagerly beckoning him down into its dark depths.

_Jump_…

Roxas stepped forward, one bare foot lightly floating above the cold metal bar below him.

"Roxas!"

_She held tightly to him then, a small smile forming against her soft lips as she open her mouth to speak one last time._

_"I…forgive you…"_

"ROXAS! NO!"

A strong grip pulled him back in that instant, followed by a warm embrace and confused yelling. It took several moments for Roxas to fully function and break away from his strange revere, only to be met by a smack across the face and a harsh shake down by Axel.

"Are you fucking crazy? You could've killed yourself you moron!"

Roxas blinked, only then fully taking in his surroundings for the first time. He was obviously situated somewhere on the upper class deck outside, near the railing. Rain was slowly falling all around him, sending a chill all throughout his body that he had conveniently ignored until now. Axel and Larxene stared down at him like two concern parents, hair disheveled and soaking beyond repair. Even Axel's fire red locks, which were normally sticking out from all ends like the rebel he played himself out to be, were heavy with water and sticking to his face.

"Roxas, what the hell were you thinking?!" urged Axel, a mixture of emotions playing themselves out across his face. He looked like he was about ready to go mental, but was trying with all the patience in the world to keep himself from doing so.

Roxas could do more than stare, a sob he had been unaware of escaping him at that instant.

"Whoa…dude…are you ok?"

Tears began to fall silently down his cheeks, mixing in with the rain that began to pelt down around them at increasing speeds. Roxas could only sit and shiver uncontrollably, Axel and Larxene looking on with worry in their eyes.

"She died Axel…and it was all my fault…"

* * *

_**And there you have it everyone….one lengthy chapter!!!**_

_**Hope it didn't confuse anyone all that much!! Thanks for all the reviews I've received thus far…and don't hesitate to review this time around either!!**_

_**Laterz!**_

_**-NightRaven13 **_


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